New to halides. Burn in?

[joe0813]

I switched from radion gen 2s to a 71 inch giesemann Spectra with three radium's. I was reading on a few sites that the bulbs need a 50 hour burn in. What exactly is the burn in for and why do you have to do it

 

[joseserrano]

You don’t have to do it. It just happens. It’s the period where the true color sets in.

 

[joe0813]

Ok that works ... I was going to pull the light down and burn the bulb in but screw that then.

 

[jda]

Just put it on and use it. 50 hours seems a bit high for me, but most bulbs will look slightly different on first fire than they will a few days later - this is the burn in period. This is not wholesale different look, or anything... just wait a week to take PAR measurements and run other scientific tests. For most hobbyists, they cannot even really tell.

 

[joe0813]

Just put it on and use it. 50 hours seems a bit high for me, but most bulbs will look slightly different on first fire than they will a few days later - this is the burn in period. This is not wholesale different look, or anything... just wait a week to take PAR measurements and run other scientific tests. For most hobbyists, they cannot even really tell.

Bulb is definitely a different color .... But after about the second day looks the exact same. I need to buy a par meter

 

[jda]

I personally cannot tell when they are new versus the burnt in look. Admittedly, I never looked all that hard. The corals do not mind at all. I imagine if I changed just one of them at a time, I could see the slight difference, but I do not mess with any of that. ...just ever Valentines day weekend, new bulbs get put in and I just let them do their thing.

 

[joe0813]

I personally cannot tell when they are new versus the burnt in look. Admittedly, I never looked all that hard. The corals do not mind at all. I imagine if I changed just one of them at a time, I could see the slight difference, but I do not mess with any of that. ...just ever Valentines day weekend, new bulbs get put in and I just let them do their thing.

It's not a huge difference but you can tell a tiny color difference between my one new one and the ones I've had for about two months. I wonder what caused my one bulb to blow out so early

 

[BoomCorals]

It's not a huge difference but you can tell a tiny color difference between my one new one and the ones I've had for about two months. I wonder what caused my one bulb to blow out so early

What bulbs are you running and what ballasts?

 

[joe0813]

Radium bulbs and 400w luxcore ballasts set on 250 hqi

 

[DarkSky]

Did it physically break or just burn out? Make sure you're not handling them with your bare hands.

 

[joe0813]

Burnt out.. the inside was all burnt and the filament was grey with powder stuff on it and broken. I used rubber gloves to put them in so the oils from my hands didn't touch it